NEWCASTLE Jets has snapped a three-match losing streak and revived their finals hopes with a 3-1 victory over North Queensland Fury at Dairy Farmers Stadium on Saturday night.
Fury's debutant goalkeeper Sebastian Usai, in goals for the departing Justin Pasfield, had a howler of a debut, with the 20-year-old conceding two goals within a horror three-minute period in which his side's season sunk to new depths.
The Jets' Ruben Zadkovich opened the scoring in the 13th minute through a free kick which left Usai scrambling before Labinot Haliti pounced on a wayward Andre Kilian pass to double the lead in the 16th minute and Ryan Griffiths knocked in a third in the 70th minute.
Mark Hughes scored a consolation from the penalty spot in stoppage time after Panagiotis Nikas was brought down in the box by Kasey Wehrman.
It was one of the homeside's worst performances of the season, in which they picked up five yellow cards and argued with the referee constantly, handing the game on a platter to the visitors who were still well below their best.
North Queensland started strong when an Adam Casey header rocked the right post in the 5th minute and keeper Ben Kennedy who collided with the steel forcing a stop in play.
David Williams chanced his arm in the10th minute after a clever midfield movement left the livewire with time and space but his long-range strike was optimistic at best and had more bark than bite.
Then the wheels fell off for the homeside.
Newcastle was gifted a penalty in the 12th minute when Casey brought down a charging Griffiths with a sloppy tackle just outside the 18-yard box and they made it count.
Zadkovich drove the ball low towards keeper Usai who was either blind-sighted or wrong-footed as he dived late and failed to get a hand on a ball he otherwise should have gobbled up and the scores opened.
And it got worse for the men in green.
Haliti intercepted a misdirected back-pass from Kilian in the 16th minute, leaving him one-on-one with a nervous stopper Usai who he shot past with ease to double the lead.
Fury found the slightest of sparks after the break when Jason Spagnuolo rose above the pack to meet a long-ball from Jack Hingert in the 64th minute, forcing a diving save from Kennedy.
Spagnuolo was in the thick of it in the 69th minute when Bradley McDonald and Kilian combined down the right wing resulting in a cross but the striker could not muster a much-needed goal.
The Jets had taken the foot of the pedal until 100-gamer Tarek Elrich bamboozled almost half the midfield with a tantalising run down the left flank in the 70th minute which left several defenders stone-cold.
Griffiths snuck into the box unmarked and latched onto the succeeding cross to drill the ball past a helpless goalkeeper and into the onion bag to extend the lead.
There was only one consolation for the homeside.
Hughes will given a gift penalty kick which he slotted in extra time after Panagiotis Nikas was brought down in the box by Wehrman.
The two sides will meet again at Energy Australia Stadium on Tuesday in a rematch of the in-famous cancelled game earlier in the season.
North Queensland Fury 1 (Hughes 90+' pen)
Newcastle Jets 3 (Zadkovich 13', Haliti 16', Griffiths 70')
Crowd; 4315 @ Dairy Farmers Stadium
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